Etched lithographed plate and method of making same



Dec. 15, 1925- F. H. MOORE ETCHED LITHOGRAPHED PLATE AND METHOD OFMAKING SAME Filed Sept. 6. 1924 I xv /I17, A 74/ m/ 1 Federz'c/r H MooreM WM Dec. 155, 1925.

cairn STATES FREDERICK H. MOQRE,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ETCHED LITI-IOGRAPHED PLA'IE AND METHQD MAKING SAME.

Application filed September 6, 192%. Serial- No. 736,283.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. Moonn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Etched LithographedPlates and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to etched lithographed plates and the method ofmaking the same.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide a metallic member that iscoated so as to represent the surface of some other material such aswood or hard rubber or insulating composition and to provide outlinesthereon by etching, the outlines being in the coloring of the metal ofthe plate or other metallic member.

It is more particularly a purpose of my invention to provide a sheet,metal member such as is used for panels in radio receiving sets that hassuitable markings or outlines etched therein and which is coated overthe surface thereof that does not have the markings so as to representthe surface of some other material than the metal plate or panel member.

it is another purpose of the invention to provide a new and improvedmethod of making an etched lithographed metallic member by first etchinga metallic member so as to provide outlines thereon that are offset fromthe surface of the metallic member and coating said metallic member onthe main surface portion thereof that is not offset with a suitablecoating-imitating wood or other material having markings or a graintherein. Preferably the coating is done by a lithographic process.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a new andimproved method of producing an etched lithographed plate-like memberthat has outlines etched therein comprising etching said outlines insaid plate or other metallic member, applying a base v coat of suitablepigment to said plate by means of a rubber roller of suflicient hardnessnot to enter the offset portions of the etched member, baking saidmetallic memher so as to thoroly dry said base coat and then printing bywhat is known as rubber offset process of lithography, the desiredmarkings on said base coat which are in a color contrasting with saidbase coat.

Preferably the markings are applied in two stages, the markings beingfirst applied by means of the rubber roller used in the offset processafter which the metallic memher is slightly shifted and the markingsagain applied in the same manner as before. This two coat application ofthe markings throws the markings slightly out of register and gives amore naturalblending of the markings with the base coat to produce amore accurate imitation of the surface that is to be imitated by saidmarkings.

()ther objects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription of the accompanying drawings proceeds. However, I desire tohave it distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit myself tothe exact details shown or described but that I intend to include aspart of my invention all such obvious changes and modifications of partsas would occur to a person skilled in this art and as would fall withinthe scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

, Fig. 1 is a cross section of a metallic member or blank that is to befinished in accordance with my improved process;

Fig. 2 is a similar view thereof showing the blank after the same hasbeen etched;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the blank after the lithographiccoating has been ap-- plied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary face view of the finished article; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken thereof on the line 55' of Fig. 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the blank of any suitable metallOwhich has been provided with suitable openings 11 therein whereverdesired for the purposes for which it is to be used, is first cleaned inany suitable manner well known in the art. The metal plate is thenetched. The etching process comprises first the making of a drawing ordesign thatconforms to the outline that is to appearon the finishedarticle; the making of a photographic negative of said drawing; themaking of a print .ing plate" from said negative by the usualphotographic printing process, the plate being. sensitized with theusual emulsion for th s p p se; h p n ing plate is inke with a suitableroller; the metallic plate to be etched is then printed from theprinting plate by means of a rubber roller by what is well known in theart as the offset process, this leaving the places to be etched on thefinished product bare and coating the metallic plate where no etching isto take place. The metallic plate that is to be etched is then retouchedif necessary, to coat any bare places that may exist in the plate due toimproper printing and the back of the metallic plate is coated in anysuitable manner. The metallic plate is then powdered with an asphaltumpowder commonly used for this purpose which adheres to the ink on theplate. The metallic plate is then washed in water and the asphaltumpowder is baked on after the washing operation.

The plate is then etched by immersing the same in a suitable acid bathand after the plate has remained in the bath a sufficient length of timeto etch the outlines therein as deeply as is desired, the plate isremoved from the acid and the coating is removed from the plate byimmersion of the same in a suitable solvent solution.

The plate is now in the condition shown in Fig. 2 in which the etchedportions 12 thereof are offset from the main surface 13 of the plate 10.In the form of the invention shown, these are etched into the surface ofthe plate or depressed below the main surface of the plate. Obviously,by coating only the portions of the plate having the outlines that areto be offset, this could be raised, the acid eating away the remainderof the plate so as to slightly raise the outlines.

The plate that is in the condition shown in Fig. 2 is then subjected tothe lithographic coating process. This lithographic coating processcomprises the application of a basecoat to the etched plate and in theform of the invention shown, this base coat is applied by means of arubber roller that is hard enough so as not to enter the depressions oretched portions 12, thus coating only the surface 13 with the base coat.

The plate with the coating thereon is then baked, drying the coating andpreparing the same for applying the markings thereto, which will producea finish on the plate imitating the finish of some other material thanthe metal of which the plate is made.

The markings are applied by preparing a printing plate having themarkings there on, which is inked and the ink markings transferred tothe metal plate by means of a rubber roller by what is known as theoffset process, thus producing markings on the base coat contrastingtherewith to represent the markings of the finish that is desired forthe plate,

lVhile it is possible to apply these markings in one coat, (which may bebaked on when this stage of the process is reached after which the plateis lacquered or varnished and then again baked), preferably the markingsare applied in two coats, the rubber roller being again inked from theprinting plate and the metal plate being slightly shifted so that themarkings when the roller is again passed over the metal plate, will beslightly out of register with the markings originally printed thereonwith the first finishing coat. This produces brighter and dullermarkings or more faint markings, more correctly imitating the surface ofsuch materials as wood, that is varnished or polished, or othermaterials having markings thereon to represent the finished surface ofwood.

After the second coat has been printed on the metallic plate, the plateis again baked to dry these coats of markings, after which the plate islacquered or varnished to provide a protective coating for both theetched and lithographed surfaces of the plate.

In Fig. 3 the plate is shown with all of the coatings applied thereto,including the base coating and the markings, said coatings as a wholebeing indicated by the numeral let, it being noted that the etchedportions 12 having no coating thereon.

In Figs. 1 and 5 the finished plate is shown with the protective coatingof varnish or lacquer 15 covering both the lithographed surface 14 andthe etched portions 12.

The process described above produces a plate with a permanent finish incontrasting colors, the etched portions being of the coloring of thematerial of the metallic plate. For example, where the plate is made ofbrass, these would appear to be of a golden or gilded color, while ifsome whiter metal such as aluminum were used, these would appear assilvery markings.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure byUnited States Letters Patent is:

1. The method of making an etched, coated plate comprising etching asmooth plate to provide relatively deep and narrow outlines thereonoffset from the surface of said plate and lithographing the surface ofsa d. plate after said plate has been etched.

2. A. method. of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metallic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon ofiset from the surface of said member and lithographing thesurface of said member after the same has been etched.

3. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metallic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tothe portion of said metallic member that is not offset from the surfaceof said member and printing markings of a contrasting color on said basecoat.

4-. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metal lic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tothe portion of said metallic member that is not offset from the surfaceof said member and printing markings of a contrasting color on said basecoat by the offset process.

5. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metallic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tothe portion of said metallic member that is not offset from the surfaceof said member, baking said member to dry said coat, printing markingsof a contrasting color on said base coat and baking said member to drysaid coat.

6. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metallic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tothe portion of said metallic. member that is not offset from the surfaceof said member, printing markings of a contrasting color on said basecoat, shifting said member.

slightly and again printing said markings thereon.

7. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metal lic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tosaid member by means of a roller of sufficient hardness not to entersaid offset etched outlines thereon and applying markings of acontrasting color on said base coat.

8. A method of the character described comprising etching a smoothsurfaced metallic member to provide relatively deep and narrow outlinesthereon offset from the surface of said member, applying a base coat tosaid member by means of a roller of sufficient hardness not to entersaid offset etched outlines thereon and applying markings of acontrasting color on said base coat, said markings being applied in aplurality of coats and said member being slightly shifted upon applyingsuccessive coats of said markings to throw the markings of differentcoats out of register.

9. A sheet metal member having relatively deep and narrow outlinesetched therein to offset the same from the surface thereof and a surfacecoating on said member covering the smooth surface thereof, said deepnarrow outlines being uncoated.

10. Asheet metal member having a lithographed surface provided withetched unlith-ographed portions offset from said surface.

11. A sheet metal member having a lithographed surface and etchedrelatively deep and narrow unlithographed outlines on said surface. v y

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th day ofSeptember, A. D. 1924:.

rnnnnnror: I-I. Moons.

